BARTONVILLE — Anticipating an onslaught of concealed carry permit applications, village police are adapting their fingerprinting services to expedite background checks for the process.

The Bartonville Police Department procured live-scan fingerprinting technology — an electronic system that captures and transmits fingerprints for comparison to state and national databases — two years ago through a federal grant.

In addition to identifying individuals in criminal cases, police use the equipment for other state-required background checks such as those for some school and health officials. That capability in Bartonville will soon be extended to the public for gun permits.

"It would be convenient to our residents, and we wanted to offset the cost and make some money for the village in the process," police Chief Brian Fengel said. "Applicants will want to get fingerprinted, and they're going to go to someone else if they don't come here."

Applications for a permit to carry a concealed weapon will require a background check when they become available to the public Jan. 5 — and that process is expedited under state law if electronic fingerprints are submitted. Under most circumstances, state police will have 90 days to process applications with electronic fingerprints and 120 days without that data.

Fengel said the department will charge $80 per person for the fingerprinting process and conduct it by appointment only. The system should be set up by the first day concealed carry applications are available.

"We're going to limit it initially to Bartonville residents," Fengel said. "Then, if we can handle it, we're going to start offering opportunities for residents outside the village."

It is not clear how many other locations in the Peoria area offer similar fingerprinting services to the public. A list of licensed vendors available from the Illinois State Police does not name any in the Tri-County Area, although some companies have headquarters elsewhere in the state and satellite locations in the region.

Matt Buedel can be reached at 686-3154 or mbuedel@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @JournoBuedel.